:i¥.  /'Z^ ^.    3 4 'J 2 (; 


INDIANA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  PUBLICATIONS 
VOLUME  III  Number  II 


SIEURDE  VINCENNES 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  INDIANA'S  OLDEST  TOWN 


BY 


EDMOND  MALLET 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOWEN-MERRILL  COMPANY 

1897 


\ 


INDIANA  HISTORICAL  SOCIHTY  PUBLICATIONS 

VOLUME   III  NUMBER   II 


SIEURDE  VINCENNES 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  INDIANA'S  OLDEST  TOWN 


BY 


EDMOND  MALLET 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOWEN-MERRILL  COMPANY 

1897 


\ 


SIEUR  DE  VINCENNES 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  INDIANA'S  OLDEST  TOWN. 


"  Vincennes  whose  name  will  be  perpetuated  as 
loiij^  as  the  Wabash  shall  How  by  the  dwell- 
ings of  civilized  men." — IJancroft,  History  of 
the   United  States. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  last  century  an  officer  known  in  his- 
tory as  Sieur  de  Vincennes  was  commandant  of  troops  of 
the  king  of  France  and  of  a  military  post  on  the  Wabash 
river  in  the  then   Illinois  country,  which  post  is  supposed  to 

have  been  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Vinccn-  q^^  ;(.<-. ti-  t^t  Icute.^sn 
nes,   Indiana.     The  said  officer  was  burned  at  the  stake,  m^nu^^d  h^  terw^^c^tl'tx^. 
May.   1736,  together  with   Major  D'Artaguette,  commandtT^'^^<:' -^  f^' «^^»^ '^^  •'^■-j- 
of  an  expedition.  Father  Senat,  Jesuit  missionary  and  acting  "''^  x^^tr.^  ceiK 
chaplain,  and   a   number  of  other  officers  of  both  regular  and.iyivA,  jcv  Cixlca.cLi>^ 
colonial  troops,  in  one  of  the  villages  of  the  Chickasaw  Indi- 
ans situated  in  that  part  of  Louisiana  now  embraced  within 
the  territorial  limits  of  the  state  of  Mississippi. 

As  to  the  above  all  authorities  are  agreed. 

But  who  was  Sieur  de  Vincennes?  A  century  and  a  half 
of  learning  in  American  colonial  history  has  left,  in  neglect- 
ful obscurity,  the  identity  of  the  founder  of  the  first  settle- 
ment in  one  of  our  great  states,  who  was  a  valiant  soldier  as 
well  as  a  chivalrous  Christfan  hero,  devoted  to  his  God  and 
his  country.  "Sieur  de  Vincennes,"  says  Ferland,  one  of 
the  most  judicious  of  the  Canadian  historians,  "  at  the  head 

(41) 


^2  SfFrn  DE   VIXr ESSES. 

of  his  Pcanquichias  fought  with  dopcration  in  the  hope  of 
ncapturing  DArtaguette  from  the  enemy,  but  unwilli'g  lo 
flcewith  his  shattered  command,  he.  too.  was  taken  prisoner. '' 
"  '  \'incennes,'  says  Dunn,  the  latest  of  Indiana's  learned 
historians.  *  ceased  not  until  his  last  breath  to  exhort  the  men 
to  behave  worthy  of  their  reli;>ji<<n  and  their  country. "  He 
that  his  epitaph:  and  be  it  a  matter  of  pride  to  Indiana  that 
Ikt  first  ruler  was  so  brave  a  man  and  so  true.'' 

This  study  is  designed  to  suggest  to  students  of  American 
history  the  importance  of  -olving  the  problem  of  Sieur  de 
Xincennes's  identity.  The  subject  is.  besides,  not  devoid  of 
historical  interest,  in  view  of  the  many  conflicting  opinions 
expressed  by  historians  of  Canada,  F"rance  and  the  United 
States  on  the  nationality,  birthplace  and  family  name  of  one 
of  America's  traditional  heroes. 


i.\  portion  of  the  Illinois  allies  fled,  followed  bv  <;ome  Frenchmen,  but 
the  fortv  Iroquois  from  Can.ida.  also  under  De  Vincinne*.  fought  with 
such  valor  as  to  save  the  command  from  utter  annihilation.  Du  Ti-n^, 
an  officer  of  reirulars,  and  La  Lande.  a  captain  of  militia,  were 
captured,  as  also  Drouet  de  Richardville.  the  younger  of  tour  broth- 
er-i.  officer*  commanding  militia  and  Indians.  Three  of  the  Drouet 
de  Richardville  brothers  had  been  killed  in  the  battle  when  the  one 
t.iken  prisoner  was  wounded  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians. 
He  was  conducted  to  the  c.ibin  of  the  chief  of  the  village  of  Jantilla, 
and  during  six  months  he  was  guarded  bv  the  young  warriors.  After  this 
len^rth  of  time  he  lived  with  the  Chickasaws  with  entire  freedom  and  had 
the  libertv  of  hunting  with  them.  At  the  end  of  eighteen  months  an 
En>rli>h  trader  assisted  him  to  esc.-ipe.  Travelinii  more  than  a  hundred 
milt*  through  the  mountains  and  forests  he  met  some  English  merchants 
uho  conducted  him  to  General  Oglethorpe,  governor  of  the  colony  ot 
Georiria.  who  paid  his  random  to  the  Chickasaws  who  had  come  to  re- 
claim their  prisoner.  Governor  Oglethorpe  furnished  him  the  means  to 
return  to  Canada.  Passing  through  the  Carolinas.  Virginia.  Maryland, 
Pennsvlvania  and  New  York,  he  arrived  at  Montreal  on  June  lo.  1739. — 
5.V  Gayarre.  Histoire  tie  la  Louisiane.  1S46.  Vol.  I.  p.  333;  Ferland. 
Cours  if  Histoire  du  Canada.  1891.  Vol.  II.  p.  ^f^. 

•Dunn.  Indiana:    A   Rrdcmption  /'rfl;//  ^/rtirrv  'American  Common- 
wealths series)  iSSS.  p.  fo. 


SIKIi:  DE    VIX(  EWES.  43 

The  following  notes  may  serve  as  a  basis  for  a  more  cor- 
rect u^(Jer^tandinJ;  of  the  authorities  hereinafter  cited  on  the 
personal  identit\-  of  Sieur  di;  Vincennes : 

164S,  Oct.  25.  I'Vangois  Bissot,  Sieur  de  la  Riviere,  fjcn- 
tleman.  born  in  1613,  at  Notre-Dame  des  Pres,  Normandy, 
m.irried'  at  Quebec,  Mary  Couillard,  a  Creole  of  Canada,  born 
in  1633,  at  Quebec — Tanguay,  Dictioiinairc  Gaitalogiquc. 
1 87 1,  Vol.  1.  56. 

1672,  Nov.  3.  Frangois  Bissot,  Sieur  de  la  Riviere,  had 
granted  to  him  by  the  Intendant  Talon  a  seignoral  estate, 
which  was  subsequently  named  Vincennes,  and  which  he  had 
placed  in  the  name  of  two  of  his  sons — Jean  Baptiste  and 
Charles  Francois  Bissot — who  assumed  the  name  of  the  seig- 
nory.  It  was  of  seventy  arpcnts,  fronting  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence river  by  one  league  in  depth  into  the  interior,  and  was 
situated  in  the  present  county  of  Bellechasse,  and  opposite 
the  city  of  Quebec. — Bouchette,  Topographical  Description  of 
Lower  Canada,  181 5,  p.  505;  Rameau,  Acadiens  et  Caiia- 
diens,  1859,  p.  286;  Suite,  Histoirc  des  Canadiens-Francais, 
1882.  Vol.  IV,  94;  Roy,  "  F'rangois  Bissot,"  \n  Manoins  de 
la  Socictc  Roy  ale  du  Canada,  Sec.  i,  1892,  p.  H. 

17  19,  Oct.  28.  "I  learn  from  the  last  letters  that  have  ar- 
rived from  the  Miamis,  that  Sieur  de  Vincennes  having  died 
in  their  village,  these  Indians  had  resolved  not  to  move  to  the 
river  St.  Joseph,  and  to  remain  where  the\'  are." — Ue  Vau- 
dreuil  to  the  Council  of  Marine,  in  Docnnients  Relating  to  tlie 
Colonial  History  of  Xezo  ]'orl:,  1855,  Vol.  IX,  894. 


*  Bv  this  marriage  Bissot  became  the  brother-in-law  of  John  Nicolet, 
the  discoverer  of  Wisconsin,  who  had  married  Margaret  Couillard,  a  L'od- 
child  of  Champlain.  the  founder  of  Canada.  His  dauj^htcr  Louise  Bissot 
married  Serapliim  Man^anne  de  la  Valtrio,  formerly  lieutenant  in  the 
regiment  of  Lini^re<;.  who  came  to  Canada  with  the  rfu;iment  of  Carignan; 
and  another  daughter  Claire  Frances  Bissot  married  Louis  Jolliet.  the 
discoverer  of  the  Mississippi.  Two  years  after  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1673,  his  widow  married  Jacques  De  La  Lande,  Sieur  de  Gayon. 


,  ,  SiEf'i:  HE  VjyCEXSES. 

44 

1740.  Sept.  17-  Captain  Celeron .  Sieur  dc  Blainville,  com- 
mandiiv^  .in  cxp«?Jilion  do-a-n  the  Ohio  to  take  possession  uf 
tlu-  countr>-  in  the  r-ina*.  of  the  king  of  France,  visited  tlie 
Miamis  under  the  chxi  La  Demoiselle,  at  a  pc^int  afterwards 
known  as  Lorunie'>  Creek,  Ohio;  when,  appealing  to  the 
Indians  to  return  to  Kikakon  (Ft.  Wayne.  Ind.),  he  deliv- 
ered the  \v0rd5  of  the  governor  of  Canada,  sa>ing:  "It  is 
in  that  countr\\  my  children,  that  you  will  enjoy  the  delights 
of  life,  it  being  the  f/a^^  aV/^n  trfosc  the  bones  of  your  fath- 
tvs  and  those  of  Si*mr  De  ilneennes,  'whom  yon  so  much  loved 
and  who  ahi-ats  ^tyz-^rmi^d  jou  in  such  a  manner  that  affairs 
were  always  good  " — ^Journal  dc  Celeron,  in  Margry,  De- 
ionvertcs  et  EfaMiss^ae^wis  dis  Franqais  dans  l' Anitriqne  Sep- 
tentriona/e.  1SS6.  Vo2.  VI.  J 16. 

It  i-  established  by  the  above  notes,  believed  to  be  of  ap- 
proved authorit>\  that  a  seignoral  estate  named  Vincennes 
existed  in  Canada  in  the  last  century ;  that  two  sons  of  Fran- 
cois Bissot.  an  early  settler  in  Canada,  were  proprietors  of 
the  said  estate :  and  that  a  Sieur  de  Vincennes  died  in  the 
Miamis  country-  in  or  prior  to  1719.  and  that  his  mortal  re- 
mains repose.  pn^babSy,  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  St. 
Marv'  and  St.  Joseph,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 
With  this  prcliminan,-  examination  of  basic  facts  we  may 
better  appreciate  the  statements  of  the  historians.  The  fol- 
lowing^ e.xcerpts.  garher^  from  all  available  historical  sources, 
represent,  in  sube>tance.  all  that  has  been  written,  bearing  on 
the  personal  identitj-  of  the  subject  of  this  study. 

1-44.  "'The  SEe-^r  de  Vincennes,  a  Canadian  gentleman 
and  officer  in  the  arasy.  shared  the  glory  with  him  [Father 
Senat.  Je<utt.  burned  at  the  stake],  and  won  the  admiration 
of  his  ver\-  torturer?."" — Charlevoix.  Histoire  de  la  Nonvelle- 
France.  1 1. 502;  the  same.  Shea,  History  of  New  Franee, 
1S72.  Vol  VI.  121. 

18 19.    "Aboat  the  year    1702.  a   party  of  French   from 


siKii:  Iff:  \'i.\(  KWKs. 


45 


Canada  descended  the  Wabash  river,  and  established  posts 
in  several  places  on  its  banks.  The  party  was  commanded 
by  Capt.  St.  X'incennes.  who  made  that  his  principal  place 
of  deposit,  which  went  for  a  long  time  by  no  name  than  the 
Post. 

"  In  the  year  1734  several  P'rench  families  emigrated  from 
Canada  and  settletl  at  this  place  [Vincennes].  The  first  gov- 
ernor, or  commandant,  was  M.  St.  Vincent,  after  whom  the 
town  is  now  called." — Thomas,  Traicls  Throng k  the  IVcsterti 
Country,   190. 

1839.  "  .  .  .  .  The  commander,  .ifter  whom  our  town  is 
named.  Frangois  Morgan  de  Vinsenne.  (  '  Viiiscuiic,'  for 
so  he  spelt  his  name),  was  an  officer  ii.  the  service  of  the 
king  of  France,  and,  serving  in  Canada  probably  as  early  as 
1720,  in  the  regiment  '  de  Carignaii.'  ....  At  what  time 
he  took  possession  here  is  not  exactly  known  ;  prob.ibly  some- 
where about  the  year  1732.  There  is  nothing  on  our  records 
to  show  but  an  act  of  sale  made  by  him  and  Madame  Vin- 
senne, the  daughter  of  Monsieur  Phillip  Longpie  of  Kaskas- 
kia,  and  recorded  there.  .  .  ." — Law,  Address  Before  the 
Vincennes  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society,  21. 

1840.  "  .  .  .  .  Vincennes,  too,  the  Canadian,  refused  to 
{\y,  and  shared  the  captivity  of  his  gallant  leader." — Ban- 
croft, History  of  the  United  States,  III,  367. 

1843.  "  Francis  Morgan  de  Vincennes,  who  was  an  ofificer 
of  the  king's  troops,  and  a  commandant  of  a  small  post  on 
river  Wabash,  accompanied  the  expedition  under  D'Artugui- 
ette." — Dillon.  History  of  Indiana  Fd.  of  1843,  p.  61  ;  the 
same,  F^d.  of   1859.  p.  46. 

1848.  "In  1715.  the  Sieur  de  V'ncennes,  a  Canadian  of- 
ficer, visited  the  country  of  the  Miamis  and  founded  a  post, 
bearing  his  name,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  .  .  ." — 
Poussin,  De  la   Puissance  Amcricaine,  3d  Ed.,  I,  183;   the 


^6  siEVU  in-:  visckxxks. 

same,  7/u  Unihd  States;  its   Poivcr  and  Progress,   1851,  p. 

137- 

1852.    '"The  supposed    founder  of  Po^t    N'inccnnes,  from 

whom  at  least  the  place  took  its  name,  was  I'^rancis  Morgan 
(le  Vinsennes,  supposed  by  Bishop  Hailandriere  to  have  been 
of  Irish  extraction.  Some  descendants  of  his  family  are  be- 
lieved to  be  living  to  the  present  day  at  St.  Alalo,  in  Brittany, 
France." — Spalding,  Life  of  Bishop  Fidget,  39. 

1855.  "The  'regiment  de  Carignan,'  (in  which  Francois 
Moriian  X'incennes,  the  founder  of  X'incennes,  on  the  V\'abash, 
was  an  officer),  arrived  in  the  colony  in  1665,  accompanied 
by  M.  de  Tracy.  An  expedition  was  undertaken  against  the 
Iroquois,  many  of  their  settlements  destroyed,  and  this  for- 
midable enemy  of  New  France  humiliated." — Law,  "  Jesuit 
Missionaries  in  the  Northwest,"  in  State  Historical  Society  of 
]Visconsin  Collections,  III,  100. 

1857.  "  M.  De  Vincennes,  Canadian  officer, who  founded  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ouabache  in  17 17  Ft.  Vincennes,  become 
in  our  day  an  important  American  post  and  an  episcopal  city . ' ' 
— Bibaud.  Dictionnaire  Historique  des  Homines  Illustrcs  du 
Canada,  342;    ibid,  Le  Pantheon  Canadien,  1858,  p.  305. 

1858.  ".  .  .  .  'Post  St.  Vincennes,'  (this  title  of  'St. 
Vincennes'  is  used  in  all  the  old  acts  of  congress,  where  the 
town  is  mentioned,  though  it  was  never  understood  by  the 
'  ancient  inhabitants '  that  Captain  Francois  Morgan  de  Vin- 
senne.'  its  founder,  was  enrolled  upon  the  calendar  of  Saints) 

." — Law,  The  Colonial  History  of   Vincennes,  121. 

1859.  "This  report  of  the  death  of  Vincennes  was  un- 
true; or  there  was  soon  afterward,  in  the  west,  another  officer 
who  bore  the  name  of  M.  de  Vincennes." — Dillon,  History 
of  Indiana.  VA.  of    1859,  p.  402,  note. 

!  860.  '  •  The  Canadian  family  of  Vincennes  take  that  name 
from  the  seignory  of  Vincennes,  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Their 
name  is  Bissot.    .    .    . 


SIEl'U  DE   VINCENNES. 


47 


"The  founder  of  Vinccnnes  was  evidently  a  grandson  of 
Francis  [Bissot,  sicur  de  la  Riviere],  and  a  nephew,  conse- 
quently, of  Jolliet.  He  entered  the  army  with  the  grade  of 
ensign,  and  was  early  employed  in  the  west,  especialK- among 
the  Miamis,  who  were  greatly  attached  to  him.  The  date  of 
his  first  employment  there  is  not  ascertained;  but  St.  Come, 
on  his  way  to  the  Mississippi,  found  him  at  Michillimackinac 
in  1698,  and  the)' set  out  together  for  the  Miami  river.  .  .  ." 
— Shea,   "M.  de  V'incennes,"  in  Historical  Magazine,    W , 

355- 

1863.  "The  valiant  Bissot  de  Vincennes  was  the  grandson 
of  Francois  Bissot." — Fcrland,  Notes  sur  Ics  Rcgisircs  de 
Notre-Danic  de  Quebec,  2d  Ed.,  79. 

1867.  In  1732  St.  Vincent  and  Bissot  de  Vincennes  were 
ensigns,  aged  31  and  44  years,   re-  ^_^,„— -— '""""'V 
spectively,   de  la  Valterie  was  lieu-  y4  ^Jjy^j£/tyijf£f) 
tenant,  aged  50  years,  and  St.  Vin-      *^ 

cent  was  captain,  aged  6q  years.   In  '''l^^tn^^Zl^t^inm^l^i 
1739  De  la  Valterie  commanded  on     C" ««"«•" '"'•■• 
Lake  Nipigon  ;  and  in  1760  St.  Vincent  was  killed  at  the  head 
of  the  grenadiers  at  the  battle  of   St.  Foye. — Daniel,  Lc  Vi- 
comtc  C.  dc  Lery,  193,  194,  198,  206. 

1868.  ".  .  .  .  A  small  French  fort  that  was  early  erected 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  St.  Mary.  .  .  .  The  historical  ac- 
count of  this  fort  is,  that,  as  early  as  1734.  the  famous  Captain 
D.  M.  D'Vincennes,  founder  of  Vincennes,  Ind.,  visited  this 
point  in  a  military  capacity,  and  erected  the  fort  in  question; 
and  Vincennes  is  said  then  to  have  referred  to  this  localit\-  as 
'  the  key  of  the  west.-    .    .    . 

"  Two  years  later,  in  1736,  by  order  of  his  superior  ofticer 
at  New  Orleans,  Monsieur  D'Artaguette,  '  commandant  for 
the  king  in  Illinois,'  Captain  Vincennes  (or,  as  originally 
spelt,  Vinsenne)  left  his  post  at  Vincennes  with  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  Chickasaws,    ... 


g  SIFA'R  DE   VINCENXES. 

"  Vincennes  had  visited  the  Miamies  at  this  point  as  early 
as  1705  M.  de  Vaudreuille,  at  that  period  governor-gen- 
eral of  Canada,  in  a  letter  dated  '  Quebec,  19th  October, 
1705,'  said  he  had  '  sent  Sieur  de  Vinseine  to  the  Miamis 
In  1719,  M.  de  Vincennes  was  reported  to  M.  de 
Vaudreuille  as  having  died  at  the  Miami  village  here;  but 
this  was  a  mistake  or  it  was  another  officer  of  that  name.  .  . ' 
— V>x\cc,  History  of  Ft.   Wayne,  12,  13. 

1871.  Jean-Baptiste  Bissot,  son  of  Francois,  founder  of 
the  Canadian  family  of  Bissot,  married  at  Montreal,  on  Sept. 
19,  1696,  to  Marie  Marguerite  Forestier,  was  "  Sieur  de  Vm- 
cennes,  officer  of  the  detachment  of  the  marine."— Tanguay, 
Dictionnaivc  Gincalogiquc,  i,  ^6  note. 

i3^2.    "    .    .    .    .     Those  two  sons  [of  Louis  Joliet],  and 
Jean  Joliet  de  Mingan,  continued  the  work  of  their  father  in 
the  east   of   New  France,    whilst  the  Bissots,  his  nephews, 
turning  towards  the  south-west,  added  new  tides  to  the  honor 
of  the  family  by  the  founding  of  a  post,  in  the  state  of  Indi- 
ana   known  since  under  the  name  of  Vincennes,  which  was 
that  of   a  son   of   Jean  Bissot,  Sieur  de  la  Riviere,  burned  by 
the   Chicachas   in   the   cruel   war  which  those  Indians  made 
upon  the  French."— Margry,   "  Louis  Joliet."  in   La  Revue 

Canadienuc,  IX,  219. 

1872.  "Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  officer 
in  a  detachment  of  the  marine  service,  was  the  tenth  child  of 
Francois  Bissot,  and  was  born  at  Quebec,  in  January,  1668. 
Louis  Jolliet  married  his  sister,  Claire  Frances.  Vincennes 
in  1696  married  at  Montreal,  Marie  Marguerite  Forestier. 
and  Tanguay,  Dictionnaire  Genealogique,  i,  p.  56,  gives 
the  names  of  four  children.  The  statement  in  .some  western 
writers  that  his  name  was  Morgan  is  unfounded."— Shea, 
Charlevoix's  History  of  New  France,  VI,  122  note. 

1875.    "    .    .    .   .     In  the  year  1705,  Santer  Vincennes,  of 


aiEUJl  DE   rJXCEXXES. 


49 


the  French  army  was  at  Kckionga,  ....  " — Goodrich 
and  Tuttle,  Illustrated  History  of  Indiana,  338. 

1881.    "  M.   Bissot  de  Vinccnncs,   founder  of  Vincennes, 

Ind.,  was  born    in   Canada,  died  in  1736 He  went 

to  the  Miami  countr}'  in  1704,  where  he  remained  until  liis 
death.  In  an  expedition  against  the  Chickasaws  in  that  }'ear 
(1736)  he  lost  his  life,  ....  " — Lossing,  Harpers  Popu- 
lar Cyclopcedia  of  United  States  History,  II,  1456;  the  same, 
rev.  ed.,  1893,  II,  I45^'^- 

1881.  "  .  .  .  .  In  the  year  1727,  the  twentieth  day  of 
the  month  of  October,  the  nuptial  benediction  was  pro- 
nounced over  two  inhabitants  of  the  parish,  ....  others  of 
the  gentry  of  Kaskaskia  sign  the  register  as  witnesses,  and 
then  appear  two  signatures,  distinct 
and  bold  as  though  freshly  written, 
which  we  have  not  met  with  hither-  >^y^T<-Ji 
to.  These  are  the  names  of  Yin- 
senne  and  St.  Ange  fils :  the  Cheva- 
lier  Vinsenne,  commandant  of  the  ""Z^i^Hl^^f^ i^^TnJ:,!^!::^ 
post  by  the  Wabash,  on  the  site  of  '^'^^' 
which  the  city  of  Vincennes,  in  Indiana,  bearing  a  name  de- 
rived from,  his,  has  grown  up,  and  the  young  St.  Ange,  one 
of  his  officers,  a  relative  doubtless  of  the  sterling  soldier,  who 
was  to  be  the  last  French  commandant  of  the  Illinois.  Thi'\- 
had  come  from  their  distant  station,  the  nearest  neighbor  of 
Kaskaskia,  a  hundred  leagues,  in  bark  canoes,  or  had  traversed 
the  prairie  and  threaded  the  forest  for  da)s  together,  to  greet 
old  friends  and  new,  and  to  dance  gaily  at  the  wedding,  ail 
unmindful  of  the  sad  fate  to  which  they  were  tloomed  ;  for, 
ere  ten  years  passed  by,  these  two,  with  the  knightly  D'Ar- 
taguiette  and  the  heroic  Jesuit  Senat,  were  to  perish  at  the 
stake  among  the  savage  Chickasaws,  who  wondered  to  see 
the  white  men  die  so  bravely." — Mason,  "  Kaskaskia  and  its 


-Q  SIEUU  DE   VIWES'NES. 

Parish  Records,"  in  Maga.':iiic  of  American  Histor)\V\,  175  ; 
the  same,  in  Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  1881,  p.  15- 

1 88 1.  Demoiselle  la  Lande,  a  Canadian,  who  had  been 
taken  by  the  enemy  with  Demoiselle  Jolliet,  her  daughter,* 
seeing  them  about  to  depart,  asked  General  Phips,  through 
an  interpreter,  whether  he  intended  to  take  them  to  Boston 
and  leave  his  own  countrymen  prisoners  at  Quebec,  suggest- 
ing that  an  exchange  might  be  made  if  proposed  to  Count  de 

Frontenac.    ... 

*•■....  The  Demoiselle  Claire  Frances  (Bissot)  Joliet  was  the  wile  of 
Louis  Joliet,  explorer  of  the  Mississippi,  and  sister  of  Jean  Baptiste  i5issot, 
Sieur  de  Vincennes.  founder  of  Vineennes.  Ind."'— Shea's  Le  Clerq.  First 
Estublishmcni  of  the  Faith  in  iXc'v  France.  II,  327. 

1882.  "  Frangois  Bissot,  Sieurde  la  Riviere.  .  .  .  Among 
his  numerous  children,  we  observe  the  wife  of  Louis  Jolliet, 
and  Jean  Bapti.ste  Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vineennes,  a  distinguished 
officer  of  the  marine  service." — Suite,  Histoire des Cauadicns- 

luanqais,  III,  1 1. 

1882.  ".  .  .  .  Burned  by  the  savages:  Diron  d'Arta- 
guelte,  the  elder -^  Father  Senat,  Jesuit,  a  son  of  Alphonsus 
de  Tonty,  Coulanges  Bissot,  de  Vineennes,  Saint-Ange,  Du- 
tisne,  d'Esgly,  Marchand  de  Courcelles  and  three  brothers, 
Drouet  de  Richerville   .    .    .    ."    Ibid,  VI,  119. 

1882.  ".  .  .  .  Vineennes  takes  its  name  from  Jean  Bap- 
tiste Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vinsenne,  who  was  born  in  Montreal,  in 
1696.1     He  was  an  officer  of  French  marines,"  and  the  com- 

I'l'his  statement  is  erroneous:  Bissot  was  born  at  Quebec,  or  on  the 
seiijnory  of  Vineennes.  opposite  that  city,  and  was  baptized  on  January 
21.  1^)68— it  was  his  marriage  which  was  solemnized  at  Montreal  in  1696. 
I3v  ordinance  of  FranQois  Montmorency-Laval.  Bishop  of  Petra^a,  in  the 
ecclesiastical  province  of  Heliopolis,  Arabia,  and  Vicar- Apostolic  of  New 
France,  dated  Qiiebec,  March  J9.  1664.  it  was  prescribed  that  parents 
should  have  their  children  baptized  immediately  after  their  birth. 

«  Under  the  French  domination  the  troops  organized  for  service  in  the 
colonies  were  paid  from  the  appropriations  for  the  Department  of  the 
Marine  instead  of  from  the  budget  of  the  Department  of  War;  it  is  from 


SIEVE  DE   VISCEXXES.  5  I 

mander  of  the  military  post  on  the  Waba-h.  He  was  burivd 
at  the  stake  by  the  Chickasaw  Indians  in  1736,  in  company 
with  Father  Senat,  the  ChevaHer  D'Artaguiette,  and  some 
others  of  tl)e  young  Canadian  nobihty." — Mallet,  "Very  Rev. 
Pierre  Gibault,"  in  T/ic  Washington  Catholic,  Sept.  30,  1882, 
note. 

1S83.  ".  .  .  .  Father  Senat  ....  accompanied  Vin- 
cennes,*  commander  of  the  fort,  and  probably  its  builder, 
after  whom  it  was  named  Vincennes.  in  his  expedition  against 
the  Chickasaw  Indians,  in  1736.    ... 

*"  Francis  Mori(an  do  Vincennes,  supposed  b_v  Bishop  Hailandriere  to 
liave  been  of  Irish  extraction.  .  .  ."— Alerding.  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  Diocese  of  V'inconies.  54. 

1884.  ".  .  .  .  Then  Ft.  Miami  was  established  where 
Ft.  Wayne  now  stands,  and  finally,  in  1733,  the  Poste  au 
Ouabache,  which  soon  took  the  name  of  its  active  command- 
ant, a  Canadian  gentleman,  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  called  from 
a  seigneury  he  owned  in  Canada,  Sieur  de  Vincennes. f  He 
had  long  been  active  in  western  affairs,  was  brother-in-law  to 
Louis  Jolliet,  the  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,  and  died 
nobly  in  an  unfortunate  campaign  against  the  Chickasaws. 

t  "The  whole  family  can  be  traced  in  Tati<,aia_v*s  Dictionnaire  Gcnealoi;- 
ique.  It  must  have  been  a  very  inexperienced  investiiiator  of  old  docu- 
ments who  made  Morgan  out  of  Baptiste  or  Bissot.  Tanguay's  work  is 
a  summary  of  all  the  parish  registers  of  Canada,  from  the  earliest  date, 
and  not  a  single  person  of  the  name  of  Morgan  was  found  by  him  in  all 
liis  investigations."— Shea,  "Review  of  Alerding's  History  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  in  the  Diocese  of  Vincennes."  in  Ne-i'  York  Freeman's  Jour- 
•uif  Jan.  26,  1S84. 

1884.    "Pierre   Menard   ....   stopped   at  the    Post   de 
Vincennes,  founded  (1772)  by  Bissot  de  Vincennes,  another 


this  circumstance  that  the  organizations  were  denominated  "  troops  of  the 
marine."  although  they  performed  no  maritime  service.— 6tr  Suite,  llis- 
toirc  lies  Canadicns-Francais,  No\.  V.  p.  107. 


52  SIEUli  DE   VINCENXES. 

child  of  Quebec.    .    .    ." — Suite,  Histoire  de  Canadiciis-Frau- 

cais,  \'\\,  5  I . 

1884.    "  De  Vinsenne  came  and  erected  the  fort  in  1702, 

but  he  did  not  remain He  subsequently  returiied 

here  and  remained  in  the  command  of  the  fort  until  1736. 
....  That  he  returned  here  after  building  the  fort  and 
his  northern  campaign  in  1 704,  there  is  abundant  evidence  to 
be  found  remaining  in  the  official  records  at  Kaskaskia.  He 
married  in  1733  the  daughter  of  Philip  Longpee,  of  that 
place.  His  father-in-law  died  in  Kaskaskia  in  1734,  and  an 
inventory  was  taken  of  his  estate  in  September  of  the  same 
year,  which  -^hows  that  de  Vinsenne  was  then  at  the  fort  here. 
There  are  also  numerous  documents  preserved  in  the  record- 
er's ofifice  at  Kaskaskia  signed  by  him  thus: 

"  '  Francois  Morgan  de  Vincennes  commandant  of  the 
troops  of  the  king  in  the  fort  upon  Ouabasche.'  " — Cauthorn, 
Brief  Sketch  of  Fincenncs,  17. 

1884.  "  I  shall  next  name  that  illustrious  man  in  whose 
honor  Vincennes  was  named,  ....  who  was  styled  by  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  Brute  thus:  'Francois  Morgan  de  Vinsenne,' 
but  whose  correct  appellation,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  .  .  . 
was  this:  'Jean  Bapti.ste  Bissot,  Sieur  de  Vinsenne.'  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  de  la  Hailandriere,  on  what  authority  I  do  not 
know,  said  he  was  of  Irish  descent.  But  we  think  there  is 
no  room  for  reasonable  doubt  that  he  was  a  Canadian  by 
birth  and  of  French  origin 

".  .  .  .  He  left  a  daughter,  Mary  Theresa,  who  married 
Louis  De  Lisle,  from  whom  the  De  Lisles,  of  our  country  arc 
doubtless  descended,     /did  24,  2$ • 

1884.  "  .  .  .  .  I  am  glad  to  find  you  after  me  in  the 
Vincennes  matter  ....  I  had  never  struck  on  the  Margane 
family,  which  explains  Law's  Morgan.  You  are  evidently 
on  the  right  trail.  The  point  of  age  I  do  not  think  conclu- 
sive.    Some,  like  M.  de  St.  Pierre,  whom  Washington  met, 


SIEVli  1>K   VIXVKXNES.  53 

were   at  exposed   points,  requiring  activity,  though  of  great 


age. 


"  I .  Jean  Baptistc  Bissot— If  he  died  in  1 7 1 9  that  disposes 
of  him  and  of  me  so  far  as  he  is  concerned. 

"  2 .  Frangois  Marganc,  Sicur  de  Vincenncs,  nephew  proba- 
bly of  No.  I "—Shea,  Letter  to  Mr.  Mallet,  Feb. 

5,   1884.     MS. 

1886.    "    .    .    .    .     The  following  points,  I  think,  arc  well 

established : 

"(a)    In  1733  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes  married  a  daughter 

of  Philip  Longpre  at  Kaskaskia. 

"(b)    In  1 734  Madame  de  Vincennes  was  at  Post  Vincennes. 
"(c)    In    1736  Monsieur  de  Vincennes  lost  his  life  in  the 
expedition  against  the  Chickasaws. 

"(d)    De  Vincennes  left  a  daughter  named  Mary  Theresa, 
who  married  a  person  named  De  ITsle. 

"My  theory  is  that  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  who  was  so 
prominent  in  Indian  affairs  in  the  west  from  1702  to  17 19  was 
Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  second  Sieur  de  Vincennes;  and  that 
the  one  who  was  at  Vincennes  in  I733  was  Frangois  Mar- 
ganne  de  la  Valtrie,  third  Sieur  de  Vincennes."— Mallet,  Lct- 
%rto  Rev.  Mr.  Tan^i(ay,Nov.  17,  iS^<^-    MS. 

1886.  "I  agree  with  you  in  saying  that  the  Francis  Mor- 
gan of  your  historians  can  be  none  other  than  Francois  Mar- 
\rane  dc  la  Valtrie.  I  would  observe,  however,  that  it  is  not 
Frangois  married  to  Angelique  Guyon— but  Pierre  Frangois 
Margane,  Sieur  Des  Forets.  In  fact  Frangois,  husband  of 
'  Angelique  Guyon,  died  after  1739."— Tanguay,  Letter  to 
Mr.  Mallet,  Dec.  6,  1886.     MS. 

1886.    ".  .  T\\c.  com^:iny  has  ordered  the  establishment 

of  a  post  on  the  Ouabache  river,  and  has  requested  the  gov- 
ernor of  Canada  to  give  orders,  on  his  part,  to  Sicur  de  Vm- 
cennes    who  commands  at  the    village  of  the   Ouyatenons- 


54 


SIEI'li  DK    VlSi  KSSES. 


Miamis,  livinfj  towards  the  upper  Ouabache.  to  come  to  an 
understanding^  with  the  commander  of  the  new  post.    .    .    . 

".  .  .  .  I\I.  de  Boisbriant  ....  tliinks  it  necessary  to 
give  the  command  of  it  to  Sieur  de  X'incennes,  who  is  already 
a  half-pay  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  Loui>iana,  and  who  can 
do  better  with  the  Miamis  than  any  one  el.-^e. 

"To  induce  Sieur  de  X'inccnnes  to  attach  himself  to  the 
colony  of  Louisiana,  Mr.  Perrier  will  advise  him  that  he  has 
obtained  for  him,  from  the  compan\',  an  annual  gratuity  of 
three  hundred  livres.  which  will  be  paid  with  his  salary  of 
half-pay  lieutenant." —  "  Memoire  de  la  Compagnie  des  In- 
des,"  30  Sept.  1726:  in  Margry,  Dlconvcrtcs  ct  Etablissc- 
mcnts  des  Fraiii^ais  dans  U Amkriquc  ScptcntrionaU\  \'I,  659, 
660. 

1888 "This   service   of   Dubuisson  lasted  but  a 

short  time,  for  Frangois  Morgan,  a  nephew  of  the  late  Sieur 
de  Vincennes,  who  had  succeeded  to  his  title,  was  sent  to  fill 
his  place  with  the  Miamis,  with  whom  he  soon  became  as  in- 
fluential as  his  uncle  had  been.*   .... 

*••  The  fief  of  Vincennes  was  established  in  1C72.  The  Sieur  de  Vin- 
ce!ines  who  died  in  17 19  was  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot.  the  son  of  the  first 
holder  of  the  fief.  Clara  F'rances  Bissot.  one  of  his  sisters,  was  the  wife 
of  Louis  Joliet.  Louise  Bissot,  another  sister,  married  Seraphin  Morfjaiu-, 
and  her  son  Francois  Mor<;ane  (he  dropped  the  e  final  in  writing  his  name) 
was  the  founder  of  Post  Vint  ennes.  The  proper  orthography  of  the  name 
is  Vincennes,  though  our  founder  usually  wrote  it  \'insenne.  and  others 

in   divers  ways The  Sieurs  de  \'incenncs  must  not  h.e  confounded 

with  the  members  of  tlit  St.  Vincents  family,  of  whom  there  were  two  or 
three  in  tiie  French  service  in  the  Northwest " — Dunn,  Indiana,  j^ty. 

1889.  "  .  .  .  .  Whether  the  post  [Vincennes]  was 
established  near  1702  by  some  unknown  person  (could  it 
have  possibly  been  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  the  elder  Sieur  de 
Vincennes?),  or,  as  Mr.  Dunn  would  have  it,  it  was  founded 
by  Francois  Morgane,  the  younger  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  must 


siEiii  in-:  vise  ESSES.  55 

be  left  at  present  undetermined.— Bryan.  •' Indiana's  First 
Settlement."  in  Mai^azinc  of  American  History,  XXI,  394. 
1889.  '•....  The  only  evidence  offered  as  to  tlie 
date  [of  the  founding  of  Post  Vincennes]  was  the  certificate 
of  i.ouis  St.  Ant^^e  that  he  commanded  at  Post  Vincennes 
'  with  a  garrison  of  regular  troops  from  the  year  1736  until  the 
vear  1764;  ....  that,  further,  the  .said  post  was  established 
a  number  of  years  before  m>-  command,  under  that  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Vincesnc,  officer  of  the  troops,  whom  I  succeeded 
by  order  of  the  king,' 

"  While  this  certificate  does  not  furnish  the  date,  it  estab- 
lishes one   point  of  importance,  and  that  is  that  the  Sieur  de 
Vincennes    whom    St.    Ange    succeeded    was    the    one    who 
founded  the  post;    and  that  man  was  Frangois  Morgane.      It 
is  gratifying  to  note,  amid  all  other  confusion,  that  all  tradi- 
tion and  all  known  records  agree  on  this.    If  this  fact  be  ke[)t 
in  mind,  and  it   be  remembered  that  Frangois  Morgane  was 
not  Sieur   de  Vincennes   until   after  the  death  of  his  uncle, 
Jean   Baptiste    Bissot,  in    1719,  the  solution   of  the  question 
becomes  comparatively  simple.      At  this  time  the  dividing 
line  on  the  Wabash  between   the   jurisdictions  of  Louisiana 
and  Canada  was  the  site  of  Terre  Haute.     The  new  Sieur  de 
Vincennes  was  in   the  service  of   Canada,  and  took  the  place 
of  his  deceased  uncle  with  the  Miami  and  Ouyatanon  Indians 
on  the  Maumee  and  upper  Wabash.      At  this  time,  too,  the 
French  of    Louisiana  became  alarmed   at   the    approach    of 
the  English  to  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  repeated  calls  were 
made  for  the   establishment  of  a  post   on  the    'Ouabache.' 
These  calls  are  couched  in  language  which  shows  that  there 
was  not  then  any  post  on  the  Wabash  or  lower  Ohio.    .    .    ." 
—Dunn,  "The  Founding  of  Vincennes,"   in  Magadnc   of 
American  History,  XXII.  144.  1 45- 

I S89.    '  'Jean  Baptiste  Bi.ssot.  Sieur  de  Vincennes.  Canadian 
explorer,  b.   in  Quebec  in  January,    1688;   d.   in  Illinois  in 


-g  siEi  n  itt:  visf  ESSES. 

1736.  He  was  the  tenth  son  of  Francois  Bissot.  ...  He 
foui;ht  ai;ain>t  the  Iroquois  at  Mackinaw  at  the  age  of  ten, 
entered  the  Canadian  army  as  ensign  in  1 70 1,  and  was  em- 
ployed in  the  west.  .  .  .  Early  in  1736  he  was  .sent  to  assist 
in  the  expedition  against  the  Chickasaws.'" — Apphtons  Cy- 
clopiedia  of  American  Bioi^raphy ,  W.  298. 

1S90.     "  Jean  Baptiste  Bis>ot.  Sieur  de  V'incennes 

died  about  1 7 17,  and  his  nephew.  Pierre  Margane,  son  of  his 
sister.  Louise  Bissot,  who  obtained  an  ensign's  commission 
in  1699.  assumed  the  style  of  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  and  re- 
tained much  of  his  influence  in  the  west.  He  was  sent  to  the 
present  Indiana  to  control  the  Miamis.  He  erected  a  post 
known  as  F"t.  Ouiatenon.  and  about  1835  another  on  the  Wa- 
bash, which  took  his  name.  ..."  Shea.  'The  Hoosier 
State,"  in  The  Catholic  Xcivs.  Sept.   10.   1S90. 

1S92.  'Charles  Francois  and  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot  were 
the  proprietors  of  the  5eignor>'  of  \'incenncs.  They  assumed 
the  name  of  that  estate.  Both  married  at  Montreal  daughters 
of  the  surgeon  Forestier.  Charles  FVangois  does  not  appear 
to  have  left  descendants.  Jean  Bapti-te  adopted  the  military 
service  as  a  profession  and  illustrated  the  name  of  the  Bissot 
de  Vincennes. 

' '  He  was  the  founder  of  the  post  of  Ougatamou.  In  1 736, 
he  died,  burned  by  the  Chicachas.  The  name  of  the  capital 
of  Indiana.  Vincennes.  is  borrowed  from  that  of  this  officer." 

Roy.  "  F'rangois  Bissot."  in  Mlmoires  dc  la  Societe  Roy  ale 

dti  Canada.  Sec.  i.   1892,  p.  39. 

The  above  excerpts  and  notes  contain  the  only  statements, 
serving  to  lead  to  the  identity  of  our  hero,  that  are  accessible 
or  known  to  this  writer,  and  from  these,  it  must  be  confessed, 
that  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  determine  his  true  name  or  es- 
tablish his  family  connections.  Archbishop  Spalding  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Alerding.  on  the  authority  of  Bishops  Brute  and 
Hailandriere  of  the  diocese  of  Vincennes.  re<i^ard  him  as  of 


.SlElli  DE    \'IS<  ENNES.  57 

Irish  extraction;  Judge  Law.  the  historian  Dillon.  Archbishop 
Spaldinj^  and  Kcv.  Mr.  Alcrdin^;  t,nve  him  the  name  of   Mor- 
gan,  a    prominent    Irish  name;   the    historians,    Charlevoix. 
Bancroft.  Bibaud.  Shea.   Ferland,    Daniel,  Margry.   Lossing. 
Suite,  Roy  and  Dunn,  the  Ambassador  Poussin,  the  Genea- 
logist Tanguay  and  the  editor   of  Appleton's   Cyclop;edia  of 
Biography,    call    him   a   Canadian;    Shea,    Ferland,    Daniel, 
Tanguay,  Margry.    Lossing,  Suite   and    Roy  give   his  family 
name  as  Bissot ;    Shea,  Tanguay.  Suite  and  Roy  believed  him 
to  have  been   Jean    Baptiste   Bissot.  son   of   Francois  Bissot ; 
Ferland  say-  that  he  was  the  grandson  of   Frangois  Bissot ; 
Margry  finds  that  he  was  the  son  of  Jean  Bissot;  Suite — very 
probably  through  a  typographical  error — gives  the  name  of  an 
officer  named  Coulanges  Bissot  as  burned  at  the  stake  with 
De  Vincennes ;   Thomas  and  the  joint  authors  Goodrich  and 
Tuttle  print  his  name  Saint  Vincennes  or  Saint  Vincent ;  Dunn 
observes  that  his  name  must  not  be  confounded  with  those  of 
the  Saint   Vincent   family;    Shea,  Tanguay  and   Dunn,  after 
recent  researches,  agree  that  Margane  de  la  Valtrie  is  the  cor- 
rect name ;    Tanguay  finds  the  name  to  be  Pierre   Frangois 
Margane,  Sieur  Des  F'orets ;    Shea  concludes  it  to  be  Pierre 
Margane ;    Dunn  adheres  to  Frangois  Morgan,  the  form  of  the 
name  used  by  western  writers   during  the   last  half  century, 
but  connects  it,  generally,  with  the  Canadian  family  of  Mar- 
gane de  la  Valtrie;    he  was  a  half-pay  lieutenant  in  1726,  ac- 
cording to  the  memorial  of  the  Royal  Company  of  the  Indies, 
whilst  Daniel,  from  his  compilation  of  Canadian  documents, 
finds  that  he  was  ensign  in  1732,  and  aged  forty-four  years. 
What  are  we  to  think  of  all  these  discrepancies  and  contra- 
dictions? 

The  statements  that  our  hero  was  of  Irish  extraction,  that 
he  had  descendants  living  in  Brittany,  that  he  belonged  to 
the  Carignan-Salieres  regiment  of  regulars,  that  he  fought 
the   Iroquois   at  the  age  of  ten  years,  must  be  considered  as 


58  SIECB  DE  riKi  ESSES. 

more  tleductioos  from  premises  really  having  no  foundation 
in  fact.  Many  other  ab-urd.  or.  al  least,  erroneous  ^t.lte- 
ments  in  the  above  citation^  might  be  noticed,  but  the  pur- 
pose of  this  study  does  not  admit  of  their  special  examina- 
tion and  conrtction- 

The  cause  of  the  disagreement  in  the  statements  of  the 
writers  on  Siear  dc  Mocenno  is  that  the  suggestion  made  by 
Dillon  in  1S50.  to  the  effect  that  there  may  have  been  two 
otncers  in  the  west  bearing  that  name,  did  not  receive  earl>- 
attention.  That  there  were  two,  and  perhaps  three,  Sieurs 
de  Vincennes  to  the  French  troops  serving  in  the  Mississippi 
X'aliey  must  be  apparent  to  the  reader  of  the  collection  of 
excerpts  and  notes  reproduced  in  this  study.  It  appears 
equally  certain  that  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes  who  was  on  duty 
in  the  west  earlier  than  Sept.  3.  1695,  and  who  wxs  agreed 
upon  by  Governor  Frontenac  and  his  council  as  the  com- 
mander for  the  Miami?  in  1697,  and  who  died  in  the  Miamis 
village  in  the  \-icinit}-  of  the  present  city  of  Ft.  Wayne  in 
17 19.  or  earlier,  was  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  born  in  Quebec, 
Januar\-  21.  166S.  cc*-proprietor  of  the  fief  of  Vincennes  in 
Canada.  This  pdgment  long  since  formed  by  this  writer  is 
confirmed  by  a  copy  of  an  authentic  document  which  has 
come  into  his  possesvsion  ?ince  commencing  this  writing.  It 
is  dated  Fort  Paatchartrain.  July  9,  1717,  and  mentions 
Sieur  de  Vincennes.  -x'no  was  present,  thus  : 

'  ■  Jtiin  baptii'i  tUM  Equicr  Sr.  dc  Vinccune  Ensiij^ne  Jans 
Us  traupes  tic  la  marifii  ci  commandant  pour  Ic  Roy  aux 
miamis." 

That  another  Sseiir  de  Vincennes  commanded  on  ^he  Wa- 
bash, after  the  death  of  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot  de  Vincennes, 
and  that  he  became  the  founder  of  the  old  capital  of  Indiana, 
before  being  burned  at  the  stake  in  1736,  in  the  Chickasaw 
country-,  is  also  evident  Thus  we  are  still  confronted  with 
the  principal  inqniirj- — ^Who  was  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  "whose 


sif:ri:  i>t:  mm  kssks.  59 

nnmr,  in  honor  of  the  founcUr  of  a  state,"  says  so  distin- 
^niished  an  authority  as  Hancroft,  "is  borne  by  the  oldest 
settlement  of  Indiana"? 

I.  Of  the  children  of  Jean  Baptiste  Hissot  de  Vinccnnes 
only  one  may  have  been  the  per>on  it  is  desired  to  identify. 
He  is  Francois  Marie  Hi-sot.  born  at  Montreal,  June  17, 
1700.  There  is  nothing  known  of  him  except  the  fact  of  his 
birth,  which  is  found  in  the  baptismal  register  in  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame  at  Montreal.  If  living,  he  would  have  been 
about  nineteen  \cars  at  the  death  of  his  father;  thirty-three 
years  at  the  date  of  the  marriage  of  Sieur  de  \'incennes  with 
the  daughter  of  Philip  Longpre.  at  Kaskaskia ;  and  thirty-six 
years  at  the  period  of  the  Chickasaw  war  of  1736. 

II.  Of  the  brothers  of  Jean  Baptiste  Bissotdc  Vinccnnes — 

1.  Jean  FranQois,  born  in  1649,  died  when  fourteen  years 

of  age. 

2.  Guillaume,  born  in  1661,  is  reported  as  being  six  years 
of  age  at  the  census  taken  in  1667.  published  by  Suite,  and 
fifteen  years  of  age  in  1676,  when  the  inventory  of  the  family 
property  was  taken  after  his  father's  death,  on  which  occasion 
Louis  Jolliet  appeared  for  him  as  tutor.  If  then  living  he 
would  have  been  seventy-five  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
Chickasaw  war. 

3.  Charles  Frangois,  Sieur  de  Vinccnnes,  born  in  1664. 
married  at  Montreal  in  1699,  and  had  a  daughter  born  to  him 
at  Lachine — the  Canadian  gate  to  the  west — in  1702.  Noth- 
ing further  is  known  of  him,  and  his  own  and  his  wife's  deaths 
have  not  been  found  in  the  church  registers.  He  would  have 
been  seventy-two  years  of  age  in  1736. 

4.  Francois  Joseph,  born  in  1673,  died  in  1737;  and  is 
buried  in  the  church  at  Quebec. 

It  does  not  seem  probable,  from  the  above,  that  an>'  of  his 
brothers  succeeded  him  in  the  administration  of  the  Indian 
affairs  among  the  Miamis;    unless,  indeed,  Charles  Frangois, 


(3q  SIEUJi  DE  VINCENNES. 

who  was  also  co-proprietor  of  the  fief  of  Vincennes,  is  the 
person.  His  .  Ivanced  age,  and  the  important,  all-pervading 
fact  that  the  western  writers  have  for  more  than  half  a  century 
maintained  that  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes  who  founded  Indiana 
was  a  Morgan,  not  a  Bissot,  causes  one  to  pause  before  de- 
termining that  he  is  the  subject  of  our  inquiry. 

The    western    tradition,  that  the   founder  of  Indiana   was 
Francis  Morgan,  naturally  leads    to  an  examination    of  the 
claims  of  the  Canadian  family  of  Margane  dela  Valtrie,  allied 
by  marriage  to  the  Bis.sots,  to  have  illustrated  western  history. 
The  names  of   "Morgan"  and   "Margane"   are  too  much 
alike  not  to  have  attracted  attention;   and  Shea,  in  his  more 
recent  writings,  and   Dunn,  the   most   recent   of  the   Indiana 
historians  (not  to  mention  others)  have  found  among  the  sons 
of  Sieur  de  la  Valtrie,  the  last  Sieur  de  Vincennes  who  com- 
manded on  the  Wabash.      It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that 
they  are  not  agreed  upon  the  particular  person.  Shea  desig- 
nating Pierre  Margane,  and  Dunn  Francois  Margane,  as  the 
person.     These  discrepancies,  by  so  competent  authorities, 
suggest  insuperable  difficulties  in  arriving  at  a    satisfactory 
conclusion  from  available  historical  sources. 

Besides  four  brothers,  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot  de  Vincennes 
had  seven  sisters,  all  of  whom  married  and  became  the  par- 
ents of  numerous  children.  The  eldest,  Louise  Bissot,  born 
165  I.  married  at  Quebec,  in  1668,  Seraphim  Margane  de  la 
Valtrie.  formerly  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  de  Lignieres,  and 
later  Seignior  of  La  Valtrie,  near  Montreal,  where  he  died  in 
1699.  Tanguay,  in  his  genealogical  dictionary,  gives  the 
names  of  ten  children,  four  sons  and  six  daughters,  issue  of 
this  marriage.      The  sons  were : 

I.  Charles  Seraphim,  born  at  Montreal  in  1669.  He  was 
ensign  in  the  army  and  was  killed  in  1693,  by  the  Iroquois  in 
ambush,  near  Montreal,  on  his  return  voyage  from  Mackinac, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  escort  Lieutenant  D'Argenteuil  with 


SIEUR  DE   VINCENNES.  6 1 

dispatches  to  Mr.  De  Louvigny,  commandant  in  the  upper 
country. 

2.  Frangois  Marie,  born  at  Montreal  in  1672,  married  at 
Beauport  in  1712,  Angelique  Guyon-Dcs  Prcs  ;  date  and  place 
of  death  unknown.  He  was  captain  in  the  marine  service, 
and  seignior  of  the  fief  of  Du  Buisson.  His  wife,  Angelique 
Guyon-Des  Pres,  died  in  I739- 

3.  Pierre  Paul,  born  in  1679,  at  La  Valtrie  Manor,  mar- 
ried at  Montreal,  in  1732,  Louise  Charlotte  D'Aillebout; 
date  and  place  of  death  not  known.  He  was  Sieur  des  Forets, 
seignior  of  La  Valtrie  and  captain  in  the  troops  of  the  king. 
His  last  child;  Pierre  Paul,  who  became  lieutenant  in  the  regi- 
ment of  the  Dauphin,  was  born  in  1743. 

4.  Jean  Baptiste,  born  in  1683  at  Contrecoeur.  Nothing 
further  is  known  of  him. 

A  Sieur  de  la  Valtrie  was  commander  at  Lake  Nipigon  in 

1739. 

The  youngCijt  daughter,  Louise  Margaret  Margane,  born  at 

La  Valtrie  in  169 1,  married  in  Quebec,  in  1713,  Claude 
Frangois  Du  Tisne,  ensign  of  an  independent  company  of  the 
marine.  He  became  one  of  Governor  Bienville's  mo.st  dis- 
tinguished officers  in  the  Government  of  Louisiana. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  family  of  La  Val- 
trie was  prominent  in  the  profession  of  arms ;  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  one  of  the  family  may  have  succeeded  his 
uncle,  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot  de  Vincennes  in  the  west,  but 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  to  show — from  the  works  of  his- 
torians and  genealogists — that  such  was  the  fact.  Nor  does 
it  appear  that  others  of  his  nephews  of  the  Maheu,  Charets, 
Porlier,  Gourdeau  de  Beaulieu,  Jolliet,  Bcnac,  Du  Vault  de 
Valrennes,  and  Lambert-Dumont  families  succeeded  him. 

The  husband  of  his  niece  Genevieve  Margane  de  la  Val- 
trie, Mr.  Charles  Legardeur.  Sieur  de  I'lsle.  ensign,  was  at 
Kaskaskia  on  Nov.  7,  17 19,  and  it  would  .seem  that  being  in 


g2  SIErn  DE  VINCESXES. 

the  country  he  might  have  succeeded  his  relative,  but  beyond 
the  fact  of  his  relationship  and  of  his  presence  in  the  upper 
counlry,  at  and  shortly  after  the  time  of  his  death,  there  is 
nothing  to  identify  him  as  succeeding  to  his  command  among 

the  Miamis. 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  Sieur  dc  Yinccnnes  whose  identity 
we   have   endeavored    to   establish  was   not   born  in  Canada 
after  all,  but  was  a  son  of  the  Illinois  country  or  of  Louisiana? 
The  problem  of  the   identity  of  Sieur  de  Vincennes  is  not 
easy   of   solution.      Original    researches  must  be  made  in  the 
archives  of  the  old  French  settlements  in  the  west,  as  well  as 
in  the  minutes  of  the   old-time  notaries,  and   in  the  church 
registers  of  the  old  parishes  in  Canada,  and  the  results  must 
be  given  publicity,  through  the  medium  of  the  Indiana  His- 
torical   Societv    Publications,   or    by    data  furnished    to   the 
writers  specially  interested  in  the  study  of  the  question,  with 
the  views  of  the  contributors,  before  a  satisfactory  answer  can 
be  given  to  the  question— Who  was  Sieur  de  Vincennes? 

Whatever  his  origin,  his  family,  and  his  name,  the  great 
state  of  Indiana  owes  him  a  monument,  illustrative  of  his 
noble  and  heroic  deeds,  and  all  interested  in  the  state's  honor 
and  glorv  must  cherish  the  abiding  hope  that  it  will  promptly 
meet  its 'obligation  to  the  memory  of  its  founder,  whose  sur- 
name it  perpetuates  in  Vincennes— its  f^rst  settlement;  the 
place  where  the  American  flag  was  first  unfurled  over  its  tern- 
tor)',  by  Canado- Americans,  citizens  of  the  commonwealth 
of  Virginia;  the  oldest  of  its  cities;  and  its  f^rst  capital  ;~as 
soon  as  his  identity  shall  have  been  historically  established. 

EuMONi)  Mallet. 


■•■  -^^ 


Indiana  Historical  SocrETY 

PUBLICATIONS. 
CONTKXTS  OF  VOL.    I. 

No.  1.     l'i!()(i:i;i)r.\<;s  of  tiik  Society,  ls,iO  1\m;. 

No.  2.       .\l)l!Tll\VI>r  'iKKHnoKV. 

•Jj^oth'i-  <if  Nathan  Dane  ooncprnij^.Uiw  OrdinaiKjc  of  lis;, 
(lOViTuor  ratrii'k    II»>pr.\V   Sccn'?HL,,tt,.r  ,,f  rnsliiiction   to  (Jcort;,.   !?.>■-,  !.s 
(  lat  k. 
No.  X     TiiK  Isi-s  (IF  HisToiiV.     liy  Prol.I.'iit  Andrcnv  Wvlic.  D.  I). 
No.  I.     J  iiK  National  Dia  i.im:  ok  tiii:  Miami  I.sdia.ns.     1!v  .lolm  I!.  Dillon. 

No.:).      i'^ARLV     HiSTOKV    OK    I.\  DIANA  I'Oi,  IS    AM)    CkNTUAI.     INDIANA.        Hv    Natll.Uli.  ! 

Iioltoii. 
No.  (■>.    JosKi'ii  (f.  Marsiiai.1,.     Hv  Prof,  .folni  L.  Caitiijboll. 
No.  7.    .liiJi.E.loiix  Law.     Hv  ("iiail.'s  Dcnhv. 
No.  8.    .Vucii.KoLocY  OF  Indiana.    15,v  I'n.f.  K.  T.  Cox. 

APPENDIX. 

No.  !i.    Till;  Kahi.v  Sktti.kment  OF  Tin;  Miami  Colntuv.     |{.\   Dr.  K/.ra  Fi'iris. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  2. 

No.    1.    The  Laws  and  Coirts  of  Northwest   and  rvniANA  Territories      I', 
Daniel  Waiti-  Howe.  ,  ,  - 

No.    •;.    Till;  Life  AND  Services  OF  John   H.  Dieeon.     H.v  (fen.  .Joli'n  ('ohnni  ai   1 

Jiidire  Fforaee  l>.  Hiddle. 
No.    ;i.    The  .VtviisrrioN  of  Loiisi  \na.     H.v  .Jiidire  Thomas  M.  Coolev. 
No.    4.     LoruiiEKVs  Defeat  and  I'k.eox  Hoost  Massacre.     Bv   ('iiarh-  Mirtli. 

dale. 
No.    .■),    .V  Descrii'tive  Cataeooik  of  the  Official  I'ihlk  aiions  of  tiik  Tfhu! 
.      ,,,'''"liy   \>>"  •'^''\lt-"t-"  Im>i  AN  \  liioM  IxiDto  l.v.lll.  .  HrDanii'l  Waile  lli.uv 

No.     t).       lllE  Kane  OFCHARLES   OSHOUN    as    an  ANTI-SLAVEin*I'l(l\EEl:.       l!v  (ieoiv 

\\  .  .Inliati. 
No.    7.    The  .Man  IX  HlsTORV.     Hv  .lolui  Clark  Kidpalh. 
No.    H.    OriTANoN.     H.v  (J.-ear.!.  CraiiT. 

No.    !l.     HivMlNiscENCEsoF  A  .loi  i;nev  To  Indian  vi'oLls  IN  l^:^li.     lUC.I'   l'er"ii--o,> 
No.  10,     Ln  E  o|.  /iitA  KooiE.     Hv  Samuel  .Mi.rii>oii. 

•Old  Settlers."     Hy  IJuUcrt  I!.  Dinican. 
No.  11.     French  Settlements  on  tiii:  \V\j:\sii.     Hv  .lacoh  I'i.iii  Dmin 
No.  rj.     SlavekWetitiuns  AND  Papers.     Ih  .lacdi)  I'ian  Dimn 


\()L.  :j_|N    1>1;KI'A1;.\'1'I<)N. 

"^"'      I-       A    Hl-l'ol,'\   OF  l',\l;l.\    IndI  \N  \l  Ol.ls    M  AsONla      \N  D   o|-  I  'en  l  l   l;    |,,i|„:l-         H> 

ill  I-,.  I'.titrlisli. 

No.     2.      Sll.ll!  DE  VlN(  ENNES,    THE  I'ol  NDEI!  OF   INDIAN  AS  Ol.DESI     I'oWN. 

IJiiiforiii  vol\itii('S.  Svo  clutli.  iiiictif.  witli  coiilimioii.s  piiLrine-  anil 
coinplrt(Miult'x-.  Tlicjirlicr  miiiihiTS  luivt  lu'en  reset,  in  liiesame  stvie 
:us  tlu^  hitiT  ones  and  the  Volumes  ;ii-e  imW  iinii'oini  tlinni^'-ljotit.  The 
nel  ]iri('(>  is  81. -2").     Kent  by  express,  j)ivpai(l,  oit  receipt  of  iJje  aiuoui!;. 

THE  BOWnN-rUZRRILL  COMPANY 

Publishers  for  the  Society. 
INDI.\NAP0LI5.  KANS.AS  CITY. 


